Thursday, March 20, 2008

Once again today finds me working like a bloody cart horse and then working some more. (Damn but I’ll be glad when this current push to the end is over, but then I’ll be wondering how come I don’t have any fucking money, or at least as much as I thought I would.) In the meantime there is some stuff to read. I have a new column on LA CityBeat on political sex scandals and there’s a reprint posted on Yahoo News of an interview I did for the NME way back in 1977 with Fats Domino that they ran to celebrate Fats’ 80th birthday. Come to think of it, I’d really like to do a book that’s a collection of my old rock writing. If anyone has any ideas, leave a comment.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

To go with the great picture from Valerie, MrMR adds what will resonate with plenty of us at and early age. “1968, laying down on the floor in front of the first row of seats in the cinema, five consecutive nights, lots of friends , lots of LSD. Five amazing nights of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” thank you Arthur C. Clarke.” I would also add that, if I remember correctly, first “adult” books that I read as a child (as opposed to books written for children) were "Dracula" and "Childhood’s End", and when the aliens took all the children, I really wanted to go with them.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Jon sent me this fab piece of Cold War ephemera. It’s Seattle Civil Defense Manual 1951 (in its entirety) explaining how exactly to survive an atomic attack. (Although it could be equally applied to any medium sized city.) Specifics include how to build your own personal bomb shelter, tips for the aftermath of a blast (”wait at least one hour to give lingering radiation some chance to die down!”), how it kills you, and more. Just to make sure you are left in no doubt as to the identity of the enemy, and can easily recognize the commie bastards when they come at you, the pamphlet includes a list of “subversive organizations” from the House Un-American Activities Committee. Quaint? Sure. But maybe not as quaint as the bullshit that will be the legacy of the current administration when half a century has passed and they don’t really matter any more. (Click for the full fabulous facsimile)

Sunday, March 16, 2008

I seem to have now just about recovered from my bout with bacteria, and I hope there will be no more interruptions in the Doc40 service as we know it. On the other hand, reading this Yahoo New story from some girl does make me wonder. Oscar Wilde told us not to drink water because “fish fuck in it”, but this as a lot more serious and maybe just one more reason to stick to Jack Daniels

"A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows. To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe. But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health. In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky." (Click for the rest of the polluted story)